


Eyes of a Hawk

by whiteraven1606



Series: Loosely Connected [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Headaches & Migraines, M/M, Teambuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-26
Updated: 2013-02-26
Packaged: 2017-12-03 17:07:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/700651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteraven1606/pseuds/whiteraven1606
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since Loki's bid to take over the world, Clint's eyes haven't been working quite the same as before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eyes of a Hawk

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for: http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/13316.html?thread=30670852#t30670852
> 
>  
> 
> I'm giving Clint two different visual issues when he gets visual disruptions. One will be white out areas and the other will be color bleeds as though a snapshot of what he's looking at smears across what he's currently seeing when he moves his eyes. (This is a visual thing that happened to me while I had a grade three concussion in college.)

****

Clint peeked over the edge of the roof's low wall he was laying down behind. "I hate Doombots. Have I ever mentioned that?"

Tony's voice came across the line sounding bored. "Nope, never mentioned it that I remember."

On the street below, Cap threw his shield through another Doombot's leg. "Iron Man."

"What? Why am I the one that gets in trouble here?" Tony buzzed Clint, making him duck instinctively. "Birdbrain is the one that started it."

Clint bit his lip as he waited to see if Cap would take the bait and say he'd be the one to end it.

Hulk dropped off the building's side that he'd been clinging to and landed on a Doombot near Nat. "Hulk like noise Doombot smash make."

Clint snorted and shot a bot trying to sneak up on Thor and then frowned. There was a white spot spreading out across the left side of his vision. Clint dropped back down behind the little wall he was against and blinked rapidly. "Shit."

"Hawkeye?"

Clint rubbed at his eye as he popped back up so Cap wouldn't think he was injured. "I"m fine."

Hulk did one of those bounding leaps that put him right on Clint's roof. "Shooty Cupid?"

Clint squeezed his eyes shut trying to will away the stupid white. "I'm alright."

There was an explosion off to Clint's left and he turned that way, trying to see around the edges of the fast spreading white wall.

"What was that?" Nat sounded calm. His mental count of her ammo put her near the middle of her third to last clip.

Clint squinted. He jerked slightly as Hulk's hand touched his back. "I can't tell you, Nat."

He heard Cap ask 'why' right as Tony said 'I'll check on him.' 

Clint muted his comms. "Fuck."

Hulk's fingers curled around Clint's shoulder. "Why Shooty Cupid use bad word?"

Clint leaned back into Hulk's hand as he stared at the wall of white his vision had become. "I'm just mad at something, Hulk."

"Mad at Hulk?"

"No, Buddy. I'm mad at me."

Hulk rumbled and Clint tried not to tense as he pulled Clint into his lap. "Hulk not understand."

"It isn't important." Clint could feel the tension in Hulk's muscles as he tilted his head to one side to look down at Clint.

"Hulk can ask Spaceman why Shooty Cupid watch wall."

Clint rubbed his forehead and rolled his eyes. "Oh, no. Don't you start trying to blackmail people."

"What blackmail?"

Clint sighed. "Blackmail is when you try to make someone do something by threatening them with something they don't want to happen."

"Shooty Cupid not want Hulk talk Spaceman?"

"Not about my vision."

Hulk huffed and turned Clint around. "Tell Hulk?"

Clint could feel Hulk looking around by the way the pressure of his hands on Clint shifted slightly. "I really don't want to tell anyone, Big Guy."

Hulk put him down and smashed something to Clint's right causing Clint to flinch.

He blinked his currently useless eyes and huddled around his bow. Hulk roared at something and after another crunching sound he was back at Clint's side, growling.

"You okay, Big Guy?"

Hulk's hand cupped Clint's back again. "Tell Puny Bruce so he fix, plea-se."

Clint thumbed his forehead. "I'll think about it." The white was receding, so Clint tilted his head to use the tiny bit of clear vision he had to go back to shooting Doombots.

****

Tony kept an eye on Clint as Hulk hovered over him. "J, is there a source for whatever is messing with Clint's vision?"

"There does not appear to be an external source, sir."

"Huh." Tony banked and shot another Doombot as it tried to attack Natasha. "Okay, we can deal with this. J, link through the satellites already looking at this area and pin down the locations of the remaining bots."

"Working on it now, sir."

Tony flipped through a curving twist to keep from hitting a building as he dodged a shot from another bot. He dropped into a hard landing behind Cap and as Cap turned he used his repulsers to bounce off a shot off Cap's shield into a row of attacking bots. He flipped up his faceplate. "Mute your comms for a minute, Cap."

Cap tilted his head and then nodded. "We know what's wrong with him?"

Tony made a flappy motion with his hand before using it to blast a bot from getting back up. "JARVIS says nothing external is causing it. Hulk's on bodyguard duty."

"Alright. If it isn't an injury we'll worry about it when we get done." Cap clapped Tony on the shoulder. "Fly up top and do your best at being our eyes."

Tony flipped his face plate back down. "Sure thing, Cap." He waited for Cap to step a couple of feet away and took off. "How's it looking, J?"

****

Phil frowned as Hulk carried Clint to him. "Mr. Hulk?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "Tell him I can see fine."

Hulk huffed and sat Clint down next to Phil. "Tell Hulk why Shooty Cupid stare at wall and not Bad Bots."

Clint sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Look, it isn't..."

Stark landed on the other side of Hulk from them. "Isn't what? Are you alright?"

Clint nodded and Hulk shook his head. 

Stark held up his hand. "Okay, this argument can wait a minute." He clomped past them into the de-armoring truck. Hulk followed because he really liked watching the whirl of the robots that stripped Tony's armor off.

Phil eased closer to Clint. "Status?"

Clint sighed. "I just had a little issue. I'm fine."

Captain Rogers appeared from around the corner of the trailer. "Are you alright?" He handed his shield to Phil and caught Clint's head between his hands to peer into Clint's eyes. "Your pupils are the same size."

Clint tried to pull away. "I'm fine!"

Hulk stuck his head out of the truck. "Shooty Cupid not fine. Say bad word, say Hulk no talk Spaceman about Shooty Cupid sees."

Clint rolled his eyes. "I know you can say vision, Big Guy."

Hulk smiled and stepped out of the truck to sit on the curb near them. "Hulk can say stupid puny Shooty Cupid, too."

"Ugh." Clint pulled away from Captain Rogers trying to get ahold of him again. "Stop that."

"Why should he?" Stark reappeared, tugging the hem of one of his many bands shirts down into place. "You had something happen to you and everyone is worried." He gestured to the Hulk. "Even the Big Guy is worried."

Clint twisted his way out of the group and backed away. "I said I'm fine. I can shoot. I promise."

Phil caught his elbow and pulled him away. "We'll be right back." He pushed Clint into a nearby alcove in the decorations of the building they were parked by. "Deep breaths."

Clint nodded and gripped his bow where it crossed his chest. "I'm...fine."

"Yes, you keep saying that." Phil rubbed circles on the back of the shoulder not covered by Clint's quiver. "Now, report, Agent Barton."

Clint rubbed at his temple. "I just had a thing with my vision for a few minutes. This one wasn't even that bad, really."

"A thing?" Phil frowned. "Is this the first time you've had this thing?"

Clint sighed.

Bruce stuck his head into the alcove as he buttoned up his shirt. "Uhm, I'd leave you alone, but..." He shrugged. "The other guy left me with a very clear memory of Clint staring at a wall. He really wants me to look you over, Clint."

Phil mentally frowned harder as Clint rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, Doc. I told him that too."

Bruce's eyebrows rose. "Clint, I don't _get_ clear memories from the other guy."

Clint rubbed the back of his head. "Fine, fine. You can check me when we get back to the Tower."

****

Steve paced as he waited for Bruce, Phil, and a doctor SHEILD had sent over, to be done with Clint.

Natasha sat with her naalbinding as she watched him pace. Thor watched Natasha's hands as she made stitches on her thumb.

Logan was reading a book and watching Steve at the same time. "Sit down. You're annoying me."

Steve sat down and picked up his latest textbook, only to put it right back down. "Why aren't they done yet?"

Natasha made another stitch on her thumb. "Cap, not everything is instantaneous."

Steve rested his head on the wall behind his chair. "I know that."

Logan and Natasha both gave him looks. Thor adjusted his cape as he looked over at him.

"I just..." Steve ran a hand over his chin. "I've only lost one solider before. I...couldn't reach him in time." He glanced at the door leading to Bruce's lab. "Clint wasn't injured that anyone saw."

Natasha put her naalbinding aside and leaned forward. "Cap, he's been having trouble since Loki. He just hasn't said anything, I think, because he's worried you'll kick him off the team."

Steve frowned. "Why would I...Since Loki?"

Thor frowned at that and turned to look out the window beside him.

Logan looked thoughtful. "I've caught flashes of scent changes where he smells panicked for a minute or two." He went back to his book. "I haven't seen him run into anything."

Tony piped up from his corner chair where he was on his phone, tapping away. "Everyone has a sense of space. Most people will sense the wall before they run into it. If he's worked on it and memorized the layout of the rooms he could fake vision long enough to get back to his room."

Steve blinked. "Okay. I can see that. Why would he think I'd kick him off the team?"

Natasha sighed. "Because he's an insecure idiot sometimes."

Steve nodded slowly, even though he was thinking of all the cockiness...Steve blinked. "Is it hurting him?"

Bruce pushed the door to his lab open. "Out, please." He ushered the SHEILD doctor out. He motioned to everyone else. "Come in. Tony, those chairs aren't going to stay in the hallway forever, are they?"

****

Clint's eyes widened as Steve pulled him into a hug. "Uhm...Nat?"

Natasha smirked at him and shrugged slightly. "You're an idiot."

"Okay." Clint patted Steve on the back until he let go and moved away.

Tony stepped close and narrowed his eyes as he looked Clint over closely. "What's the damage?"

Bruce pulled up a screen full of text. "We think it's visual disruption migraines." He turned to look at them as he spoke, pulling off his glasses. "They are a painless type of migraine that is characterized by disruptions in the person's vision. Clint has described a white spot that expands to all of his vision and can last minutes to a couple of hours. As well as a sort of color bleed where a single image from moments before bleeds across what he's currently seeing."

Tony rapidly tapped on his phone. "Not predictable, right?"

"No, they can't be predicted." Bruce frowned at Clint. "And, Clint doesn't seem to be helped by any of the medicines he has tried."

Steve nodded. "How often do you get these visual problems?"

Clint blinked. "About twice a week on average. Sometimes a couple of times in a single day. I can still shoot."

"I didn't say you couldn't." Steve looked to Phil. "SHEILD won't try to make me remove Clint from the Avengers, will they?"

Clint frowned as Phil shook his head.

Steve smiled. "Good." He turned back to Clint. "The first moment you start having trouble during battle you inform me. We'll shift watch duty to either Thor or Tony. Depending on the situation we'll either leave you where ever you are perched or I'll order someone to get you down."

Bruce put his glasses back on. "Someone is going to have to explain it to the other guy. He's not liable to leave Clint by himself if he can't see."

Steve nodded. "We'll work on that." Steve clapped Clint on his shoulder. "We're a team and we can do this together."

****

Bruce listened to Tony and Clint fight as he tried to decide what to wear to bed.

"I don't care! You should have said _something_."

"Yeah? And what was I supposed to say? Oh, by the way, sometimes my eyes betray me?"

Bruce put the pajama pants back and started undressing. "Maybe, what Tony's really asking is why you didn't trust us to know you were in pain."

Clint sighed and flopped backwards onto the bed. "They don't hurt. I'm not in _pain_."

Bruce pulled his shirt off over his head without taking his glasses off. "Not having your eyes be prefect hurts you. So, yes, pain."

Clint made a rude gesture with his hand. "Whatever."

Tony looked down at him from where he'd been watching Bruce. "You're having one now, aren't you?"

Clint sighed. "Maybe."

Bruce came over to the bed and set his glasses on the bedside table. "Stress doesn't help. Sorry."

Tony pressed himself to Clint's side. "I would have helped. Told JARVIS to give you verbal directions if you wanted. Something."

Clint smiled and motioned Bruce closer, even though it wasn't quite the right direction. "I know, Tony."

Bruce crawled in and settled beside Clint. "Don't be surprised when JARVIS suggests it to you now."

Clint kissed Tony's forehead. "Thanks." He turned and pressed his face into Bruce's neck. "You too."

Bruce smiled at Tony. "We're both here for you, Clint."

Tony dug his chin into Clint's pectoral muscle. "What he said."

Clint smiled and closed his eyes.

****


End file.
